Truth Be Told (2015)

Truth Be Told doesn't let its issues come from the characters. The issues are the characters. Maybe future episodes will flesh out these people, but they initially serve as stick figures on which to hang "outspoken" opinions seeming not necessarily their own.

Truth Be Told is more of a "look at me, I'm not PC!" shout of self-regard.

Truth Be Told is probably not worth your time. While it tries to be edgy, most of its humor is fairly tame.

The cast works pretty hard to sell the material, but it’s awfully thin, and tackles the topical aspects less aggressively than NBC’s summer sitcom “The Carmichael Show,” which earned a renewal. The main problem is that nothing here feels remotely organic.

They're all likeable enough, but the set-ups are straight out of a dog-eared playbook.

The first episode's reflexive need to be topical quickly feels more like running through a hot topic checklist than situations generated by actual characters.

Unfortunately, the pilot is awkwardly written, so the cast doesn’t quite mesh.

Truth is pretty much laugh-free.

These couples are just the sort you’d dodge at the office or at a party, so why you’d want to unwind with them on your TV is NBC’s headache. Truth Be Told: Not much fun here.

Setting aside the producers’ aspirationally post-racial pitch, Truth Be Told looks and moves very much like another ho-hum sitcom; there are a few laughs here and there, performed by a likable assemblage of actors--but the same could be said about almost any sitcom in any season. Even if you factor in some skin tone and conversational pitfalls, nothing here seems all that groundbreaking.

Truth Be Told dilutes the chemistry between Bell and Webb by forcing them to be best friends with Gosselaar and Lachey, who appear to be cast for looks first and comedic abilities second.... The gang’s wacky hijinks set up farcical convolutions, none of which can play out because these characters are always saying what’s on their mind.

The concept of the show actually isn’t bad, but the execution is wanting, and then some. Every conversation feels awkward and forced, and of course the supposed jokes just aren’t funny.

Black people and white people can be best friends, and that's the truth. Apparently, however, that friendship can't be funny, or so Truth Be Told easily convinces us.

Truth Be Told is the worst premiere of the fall, of many falls.

[Truth Be Told] reduces the conversation about diversity to an endless string of uncomfortable gags.

Truth be told, this show is terrible.

Truth Be Told, is one of the lamest of the year, making bad jokes about current issues ranging from racially-charged language to whether John Mayer appeals only to white people.

This show is just plain awful. A wasted half-hour of your life you'll never get back.